Bad Deals Only

By Seth Williams

Bad Deals Only is a podcast about bad deals, bad decisions, and the lessons that come from them.

We break down real estate deals gone wrong, business mistakes, financial mis

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FAQs about Bad Deals Only:

How many episodes does Bad Deals Only have?

The podcast currently has 10 episodes available.

Bad Deals Only episodes:

June 06, 2026Bad Deals Only Ep. 11 | Escalation Clauses & the Trust That Blew Up a Closing
Two real estate vets, zero filter. Seth Williams and real estate attorney Nick Nardone break down how deals actually get done — and undone — in today's market. Seller financing, no-cap escalation clauses, escrow holdbacks, and the trust that nearly blew up a closing. Real tactics, real bad deals, and a lot of laughs along the way.
In this episode:
How a business coach's dare turned into a one-phone-call property sale
The creative-financing playbook Seth used to buy a Winthrop three-family with almost nothing down — then refinance his way into a $1.25M asset
Real estate team economics: why chasing splits is a trap, and how to track where your deals actually come from
"Every deal is a dumpster fire" — the walkthrough issues plaguing closings and the listing-agent moves that prevent them
Escrow holdbacks: how holding back proceeds gets a stalling seller moving
The Escalation Clause Masterclass — when a no-cap escalation wins, and the "will you be pissed?" test for finding a buyer's true number
Pricing strategy: why you sometimes let the market punch an overpriced listing in the face
The "relay race" of a deal — communication and extension etiquette that keep closings on track
The bad deal: a trust with no successor trustee, a mystery title issue, and how to enforce a contract instead of walking away
A lender PSA: why "volcano insurance" is the reason you don't run a condo through Rocket Mortgage
Full circle — selling a home Seth repped 10 years ago (and hasn't set foot in since 2017)
Chapters:
00:00 — A coach dares Seth to grow, so he sells a property on one phone call
01:52 — Creative financing 101: buying a Winthrop three-family with seller financing
10:00 — Team splits, leads & why "chasing splits" backfires
17:00 — Memorial Day weekend, stroller purges & a Beacon Hill condo-conversion run
20:56 — The Newport "Nardo Museum" & an underperforming Florida house
33:13 — "Every deal is a dumpster fire": walkthroughs & listing-agent must-dos
34:00 — Escrow holdbacks that actually motivate sellers
35:46 — Escalation Clause Masterclass: the no-cap strategy
41:24 — Pricing strategy: let the market do the talking
44:10 — The deal "relay race": communication & extensions
49:28 — The bad deal: a broken trust, a title issue & enforcing the contract
59:56 — Rocket Mortgage vs. a condo: the "volcano insurance" saga
64:06 — Full circle: selling a home he repped a decade ago
73:40 — Underrated/Overrated: Memorial Day, grad parties & dance recitals
Bad Deals Only is the real estate podcast that tells you what really happens behind the closing table — hosted by Seth Williams of Reference Real Estate with real estate attorney Nick Nardone. If it helped (or just made you laugh), follow the show and send it to an agent who needs to hear it.
Reference Real Estate — Winthrop & Greater Boston | sellinboston.com
Follow Bad Deals Only on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and everywhere you listen.
Bad Deals Only is for entertainment and general information only and is not legal, tax, or financial advice. Talk to a licensed professional before making real estate decisions.
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1h 31min
May 22, 2026Bad Deals Only Ep. 10 | Hole-in-the-Floor FHA & Puppies at the Closing
An AI assistant that drained its own budget, a hole-in-the-floor FHA deal, and a litter of puppies born on a seller's porch the morning of closing. Seth Williams and real estate attorney Nick Nardone get into the deals that go sideways, the brokers who pass the buck, and why the agent who solves the $300 problem is the one who gets the next call.
In this episode:
How Seth's AI build went off the rails: team accounts drifting apart, runaway token spend, and an assistant that forgot it ever built the show notes
Why buyers and sellers now expect AI-grade prep from their agent, and how that is thinning the herd
The $300 bulkhead standoff: two brokers and two attorneys arguing over weather stripping, and the "be the source" rule that keeps clients calling you back
A dilapidated two-family, an FHA offer that should never have qualified, and the hold harmless agreement that kept the deal alive
Appraisal shortfalls: how a rebuttal actually works, and the need-to-know way to brief a client so you solve the problem instead of just stressing them out
The bad deal: a cashier's check that burned up in a car fire on the highway, plus how you recover a lost bank check
Puppies at the closing table: a German shepherd litter on the front porch, a missing seller, and a junk-removal holdback that turned into a credit
The 9,000 square foot move that ran three days late, and the listing-agent habits that prevent it
Underrated or overrated: ADUs in Winthrop vs Revere, Memorial Day weekend, Mother's Day, and title insurance
Chapters:
00:00 : The AI experiment that spent its own money (and forgot the show notes)
09:30 : A Monday from hell: sideways deals, a flat tire, and a near-death MacBook
12:00 : Why agents who skip AI are starting to fall behind
16:00 : The $300 bulkhead fight and the "be the source" rule
20:00 : The hole-in-the-floor FHA deal and the hold harmless fix
28:00 : Appraisal shortfalls, rebuttals, and need-to-know client updates
29:30 : When a small brokerage goes quiet on an escrow refund
35:00 : The bad deal: a cashier's check that went up in flames
38:00 : Puppies on the porch: a Marshfield closing in chaos
41:00 : The 9,000 square foot move that ran three days late
44:00 : Listing-agent habits that keep closings on track
47:30 : Underrated or overrated: ADUs, Memorial Day, Mother's Day, and title insurance
Bad Deals Only is the real estate podcast that tells you what really happens behind the closing table, hosted by Seth Williams of Reference Real Estate in Winthrop and Greater Boston, with real estate attorney Nick Nardone, partner at Touchstone Closing & Escrow. If it helped, or just made you laugh, follow the show and send it to an agent who needs to hear it.
Reference Real Estate, Winthrop & Greater Boston | sellinboston.com
Nick Nardone, Touchstone Closing & Escrow | touchstoneclosing.com
Follow Bad Deals Only on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and everywhere you listen.
Bad Deals Only is for entertainment and general information only and is not legal, tax, or financial advice. Talk to a licensed professional before making real estate decisions.
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1h 1min
April 27, 2026Bad Deals Only Ep. 9 | The Spring Market Is Breaking Our Brains
Spring offer season is here and it is melting everyone's brains.
Nick and Seth open on the whiplash of happy new-client calls and festering problem calls, then dig into a condo market drowning in inventory, a starter-buyer pool that is frozen in place, and the real math of renting versus owning. Plus a run of genuinely unhinged bad-deal stories.
In this episode:
Condo inventory exploding while two-beds get passed over for three-beds at the same price
Rent versus own, run live: a $420k East Boston condo against $2,700 rent
The buyer pie chart for a $750k Winthrop single family
Why the entry-level buyer is now closer to 40 than 27, and why so many sit stuck in lease-renewal limbo
Listing edge: golden-hour photos, fewer clickbait images, and lockbox versus accompanied showings
Bad deals: the agent who ghosts at closing, the agent who sold the wrong house, and a divorce that triggered a refi rescission
An ex-wife's attorney dropping a lien on the property at the closing table
Marry the house and date the rate, plus Nick's Aqua Bounty stock run and a safe full of "$18 million" in nickels
Hosted by Seth Williams (Reference Real Estate) and Nick Nardone (real estate attorney). More at sellinboston.com.
For entertainment only. Nothing here is legal, financial, or real estate advice.
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1h 9min
April 07, 2026Bad Deals Only Ep. 8 | Rates, Deals & Real Estate Chaos
Everything actually happening in today's real estate market, minus the spin.
Nick and Seth break down mortgage rate volatility, why deals keep falling apart, and the real conversation buyers, sellers, and agents are having behind the scenes.
In this episode:
Where mortgage rates are actually heading
Why deals are falling apart right now
The truth about competing offers
Real estate horror stories from the field
Zillow estimates versus market reality
Hosted by Seth Williams (Reference Real Estate) and Nick Nardone (real estate attorney). More at sellinboston.com.
For entertainment only. Nothing here is legal, financial, or real estate advice.
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1h 38min
March 30, 2026Bad Deals Only Ep. 7 | The $150 Toaster & the No-Show Agent
A blizzard, a missing toaster, and a buyer's agent who never showed up. This one earns the name.
Nick and Seth get into the February snow lull, why septic and Title V testing grinds to a halt in winter, and how to get a listing sold anyway. Then the main event: a deal where the buyer toured the open house three times with the listing team, produced their own agent at the last minute, asked for $100,000 in repairs, and turned the final walkthrough into a seven-hour solo marathon during a blizzard. All over a countertop microwave they kept calling a toaster.
In this episode:
Title V and septic: winter perk-test delays, the two-quote standard, and paying the bill out of escrow
Tight inventory, getting listings ready early, and working off-market and pocket listings
Why rates jumped from the high fives back to 6.5 on war and inflation news
The "seven out of ten boxes" rule, because that is what you can actually afford
A full buyer-intake role play, from work-from-home space to narrowing down towns north of Boston
Why exclusive buyer agency matters, and firing the client who wants to shop three agents at once
The Florida "on or before" closing controversy and what specific performance really means
The bad deal: the no-show agent, the $100k inspection ask, the seven-hour walkthrough, and the $150 toaster saga
Hosted by Seth Williams (Reference Real Estate) and Nick Nardone (real estate attorney). More at sellinboston.com.
For entertainment only. Nothing here is legal, financial, or real estate advice.
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1h 35min
February 14, 2026Bad Deals Only Ep. 6 | Referral Fee Traps & Handshake Deals Gone Wrong
How tech platforms quietly flip the commission structure and sell agents back their own clients.
Nick and Seth dig into the referral-fee machine taking 30 to 40 percent off the top, why handshake deals get people burned, and what actually protects you when someone refuses to pay after closing.
In this episode:
Compass, Coldwell Banker, and the future of mega brokerages
Zillow, FastExpert, and referral platforms taking huge cuts
Getting burned on handshake deals
Protecting yourself with contracts and mechanics liens
What happens when someone refuses to pay after closing
Snowstorms, Super Bowl slowdowns, and market timing
Hosted by Seth Williams (Reference Real Estate) and Nick Nardone (real estate attorney). More at sellinboston.com.
For entertainment only. Nothing here is legal, financial, or real estate advice.
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1h 19min
February 07, 2026Bad Deals Only Ep. 5 | Snowmageddon: Boston Can't Handle Snow
Everyone says they miss snow until it actually falls on Boston.
Nick and Seth break down why Massachusetts is objectively terrible at snow removal, how half an inch turns the city into a crisis zone, and why New Hampshire, Maine, and Vermont quietly run laps around us every winter.
In this episode:
Why Boston panics at the first flake
The unhinged history of space savers
Snow removal scams and contractors who vanish mid storm
Why the rest of New England figured this out years ago
If you want snow, drive north. If you want beaches, universities, and heart transplants, welcome to Massachusetts.
Hosted by Seth Williams (Reference Real Estate) and Nick Nardone (real estate attorney). More at sellinboston.com.
For entertainment only. Nothing here is legal, financial, or real estate advice.
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1h 13min
January 31, 2026Bad Deals Only Ep. 4 | From Lobster Sauce to Lawsuits
It starts with lobster sauce loyalty and ends with how real estate deals actually die.
Nick and Seth open on New England Chinese food economics, then get into why today's deals fall apart. Not over price, but over inspections, unrealistic expectations, and buyers feeding inspection reports straight into ChatGPT.
In this episode:
Why inspection timelines keep stretching longer
How AI is reshaping buyer behavior, for better and worse
Normal wear and tear versus actual deal killers
What good agents do before the inspection ever happens
Why some inspectors write reports that read like horror novels
Hosted by Seth Williams (Reference Real Estate) and Nick Nardone (real estate attorney). More at sellinboston.com.
For entertainment only. Nothing here is legal, financial, or real estate advice.
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1h 12min
January 23, 2026Bad Deals Only Ep. 2 | Inspections, Parties & a Wire That Never Existed
Holiday chaos, inspection fights, and a wire transfer that never actually existed.
Nick and Seth break down why inspection negotiations go sideways, how repair requests blow up clean deals, and what the latest Massachusetts inspection law changes mean for buyers and sellers. Then it gets personal with holiday party politics, RSVP lies, and a cash buyer story you have to hear to believe.
In this episode:
Inspection negotiations, repair credits, and earnest money confusion
What the new Massachusetts inspection law changes actually do
How agents make simple deals harder than they need to be
The cash buyer, the generous parent, and a wire that never existed
Holiday party politics and RSVP lies, for good measure
Hosted by Seth Williams (Reference Real Estate) and Nick Nardone (real estate attorney). More at sellinboston.com.
For entertainment only. Nothing here is legal, financial, or real estate advice.
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56min
January 22, 2026Bad Deals Only Ep. 1 | Why Real Estate Deals Fall Apart
The deals nobody wants to admit went sideways. Welcome to Bad Deals Only.
Real estate attorney Nick Nardone and Boston broker Seth Williams pull back the curtain on what actually happens when a transaction starts to unravel. Inspection chaos, permit disasters, and agents who torch a clean deal over nothing. This is the messy reality of buying and selling in Massachusetts.
In this episode:
Why so many deals collapse after the offer is signed
Inspection surprises that send buyers running
Permit problems that quietly stall a closing
How the wrong agent sinks a deal that should have closed
Hosted by Seth Williams (Reference Real Estate) and Nick Nardone (real estate attorney). More at sellinboston.com.
For entertainment only. Nothing here is legal, financial, or real estate advice.
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1h 5min

FAQs about Bad Deals Only:

How many episodes does Bad Deals Only have?

The podcast currently has 10 episodes available.